ok, i'm assuming the 2 #2 cables on the left half go to the pair of contacts on the motor closest to the winch drum and the remaining black wire goes to the farthest solitary contact. if so, mine is identical electrically, they simply chose to connect the wires to the #3 solenoid instead of pairing them on either side probably to make it idiot proof.

not a problem. it really shouldn't be this difficult though as a winch is a simple device. i'll have to double check my grounds and stuff. i'm getting no field voltage is the problem. I get power to the stator in and out, but nada to the motor windings.

I dont understand where the coils ground to. Those solenoids do not default to ground. On my ramsey (which uses essentially the same motor) it doesn't appear that the windings ground through the case. ----otherwise when you reverse the polarity it would short to ground.

This solenoid setup is for a "series wound " motor. The current passes through the field coils that stay stationary in the case. then the current comes out, through the relays, and then through the rotating armature coils.

The motors are reversible---this is done by switching the direction current runs through the field coils. The solenoid setup shown above allows the current in the field coils to be reversed, and still allow the current to pass through the armature coils afterwards.

if anyone else was confused I hope that clears it up, if not I can explain it in better detail later.